Method to provide context-aware linkage between ng9-1-1 sms and public safety incident

ABSTRACT

A method and computer program for providing a computer aided dispatcher comprising receiving, by a public safety answering point, a plurality of emergency short message service (SMS) messages from one or more citizens over a wireless communication network, each emergency SMS message including a mobile terminal identifier, displaying each emergency SMS message in one or more display dialogue windows, receiving a command to highlight a portion of at least one of the emergency SMS message, storing the highlighted portion into one or more buffers, the highlighted portion being all or less than all of the emergency SMS message and receiving a command to associate the highlighted portion to one of a plurality of context fields in an emergency incident information report, the associated highlighted portion, selected context field and mobile terminal identifier stored in memory.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to public safety answering points employedin next generation 9-1-1 emergency services networks. In particular,example embodiments of the invention relate to providing context-awarelinkage between NG9-1-1 SMS and a public safety incident.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) defined a technicalspecification, commonly referred to as i3 which provides for theevolution of the North American 9-1-1 system called “Next Generation9-1-1” (NG9-1-1). The NG9-1-1 system is an all-IP-based emergencycommunications system which will include new functionality such asemploying short message service (SMS) text message as a method of publicsafety incident origination. More recently, the Joint Alliance forTelecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and the TelecommunicationsIndustry Association (TIA) released a standard for employing shortmessage services (SMS) in a NG9-1-1. See. “Native SMS TO 9-1-1Requirements and Architecture Specification” approved March 2013(hereinafter “J-STD-110”).

SMS has been criticized and labeled an inferior technology for publicsafety incident origination, primarily due to its fundamental inabilityto support identification of callers' location information. Otherlimitations of SMS are the inability to transfer, conference or park anSMS message.

Accordingly, there is a need for a method and computer implementedoperation which would provide context-aware linkage between NG9-1-1 SMSand a public safety incident.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, together with the detailed description below, are incorporatedin, and form part of, the specification and serve to further illustrateembodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explainvarious principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a native short message service to 9-1-1emergency services system in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a text control center adapted to connect to one or more legacypublic safety access points or one or more transitional public safetyaccess points in accordance with some example embodiments;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a regional public safety access pointsadapted for providing context-aware linkage between native SMS messagesand a public safety incident in accordance with some exampleembodiments;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer aided dispatcher adapted forproviding context-aware linkage between native SMS messages and a publicsafety incident in accordance with some example embodiments;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example of a graphical user interface ofa public safety computer aided dispatch computer program adapted forproviding context-aware linkage between native short message servicemessages and a public safety incident in accordance with exampleembodiments;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example of a public safety incidentreport dialogue window in accordance with example embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a status text window suitable fordisplaying summary data of one or more SMS text messages in accordancewith example embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example native short message servicedialogue between a citizen and a call/message taker regarding a housefire in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a context selection dialogue box inaccordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of an incident location selection dialoguebox in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 11 is an illustration of an initial caller selection dialogue boxin accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 12 is an illustration of another example of a native short messageservice dialogue between a citizen and a call/message taker involving acar accident in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 13 is an illustration of an example of a native short messageservice dialogue between a citizen and a call/message taker regardingthe same car accident described in FIG. 12 in accordance with exampleembodiments;

FIG. 14 is an illustration of an example of another native short messageservice dialogue between a citizen and a call/message taker regarding anarmed robbery in accordance with example embodiments;

FIG. 15 is an example illustration of a method and/or computer programadapted to provide context-aware linkage between native short messageservice messages and a public safety incident in accordance with exampleembodiments;

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements inthe figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help toimprove understanding of embodiments described herein.

The apparatus and method components have been represented whereappropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only thosespecific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments soas not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readilyapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of thedescription herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods and computer programs forproviding a computer aided dispatcher comprising receiving, by a publicsafety answering point, a plurality of emergency short message service(SMS) messages from one or more citizens over a wireless communicationnetwork, each emergency SMS message including a mobile terminalidentifier, displaying each emergency SMS message in one or more displaydialogue windows, receiving a command to highlight a portion of at leastone of the emergency SMS message, storing the highlighted portion intoone or more buffers said highlighted portion being all or less than allof the emergency SMS message, and receiving a command to associate thehighlighted portion to one of a plurality of context fields in anemergency incident information report, with the associated highlightedportion, selected context field and mobile terminal identifier stored inmemory.

FIG. 1 depicts a short message service (SMS) to 9-1-1 emergency servicesystem 100 suitable for carrying out example embodiments. As shown inFIG. 1, the system is adapted to accept a plurality of native SMS textmessages from several cellular wireless devices, such as mobile terminal(MT) MT 112, MT 122A, MT 122B and MT 132. That is, each mobile terminalis equipped with Native SMS firmware or applications which provide textmessage service by way of each citizen's associated cellularsubscription purchased from their wireless operators as part of amessaging plan, or a voice plan that includes messaging. Native SMS isoperated and managed by the wireless operators. Each native SMS messagecan for example be limited to 160 characters. However, in anotherexample embodiment, native SMS message sent from a mobile terminalsupporting concatenated messages can exceed 160 characters.

Mobile terminals, MT 112, MT 122A, MT 122B and MT 132 can be equippedwith a third-party over-the-top SMS (OTT) SMS application (or embeddedin other applications or games). That is, a text messaging applicationprovided on mobile terminals by companies other than the wirelessoperators that provide connectivity for the citizen-subscribers. Themobile terminals, MT 112, MT 122A, MT 122B and MT 132 can be a cellularphone, smart phone, tablet, laptop computer or telematics device

A mobile terminal, such as MT 112, MT 122A, MT 122B and MT 132 can beconnected to an access point (AP), such as AP #1 (114), AP #2 (124), orAP #3 (134). Various radio access networks can be utilized to supportoriginating native SMS to the SMS to 9-1-1 emergency service system. Forexample, a code division multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000) radio accessnetwork, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) radio accessnetwork, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) radio accessnetwork, a universal terrestrial radio access network (UMTS), or a radioaccess network such as a long term evolution (LTE), LTE-Advance (LTE-A)or LTE-Beyond (LTE-B) radio access network (e.g., each LTE technologyadapted to include support for circuit switch callback (CSFB) and nativeSMS). Accordingly, some non-limiting examples of AP #1 (114), AP #2(124), or AP #3 (134) are a base station, a base transceiver station(coupled to a radio network controller), a Node base station (NB),evolved eNB), macro eNB, femto eNB, pico eNB, a relay or remote radiohead.

Each mobile terminal is configured to accept user commands fromcitizen-users (citizens), such as citizen #1 (10) citizen #2 (22),citizen #3 (24), and citizen #4 (33). Each citizen can employ a nativeSMS application to report an emergency incident to an emergency servicenetwork by entering a three-digit code such as “9-1-1.” For example,citizen #1 (10) has the option of sending a native SMS message 113 toreport a first emergency incident 110 which is a house fire 111. Citizen#2 (22) and Citizen #3 (24) also both have the option of sending anative SMS message by entering the code 9-1-1 in their mobile terminals(i.e., native SMS message 123A and native SMS message 123B). That is,instead of placing a phone call to 9-1-1 to report a second emergencyincident 120 which is an automobile accident 121. Similarly, citizen #4(33) has the option of sending a native SMS message 133 to report athird emergency incident 130 which is a robbery 131.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is a text control center (TCC) 150 which is acontrolling functional element in the SMS-to-9-1-1 service network. Thatis, the TCC 150 acts as a gateway by converting a plurality of nativeSMS messages 140 originating from one or more mobile terminal (e.g., MT112, MT 122A, MT 122B, MT 132) to a plurality of text messages 160suitable for handling by one or more regional PSAPs (e.g., PSAP 170,PSAP 180, PSAP 190). That is, TCC 150 converts the SMS messages into aformat that each PSAPs can understand (e.g., converts various protocolsfor exchanging native SMS messages between the mobile terminals andPSAPs). The TCC 150 (acting as a gateway) also converts a text messagereply from a PSAP back to the originating mobile terminal.

The TCC 150 also converts protocols for messages exchanged betweenvarious related functional elements which support the exchange ofmessages among the mobile terminals and PSAPs. As will be explained inmore detail below with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the TCC 150 mayrequest location information from one or more functional entities thatmay be employed for routing native SMS messages to one or more PSAPs ina specific emergency call region. It is important to note that locationinformation is “course location” which is typically the initial locationestimate of the mobile terminal that is used only for routing of thenative SMS message. Moreover, a course location is merely considered asa “good enough” location used to determine routing to the appropriatePSAP (or other Public Safety entity), such as PSAP 170, PSAP 180 or PSAP190. This should be distinguished from a precise (position) locationneeded for dispatching emergency services to a citizen sending a nativeSMS message. Course location can consists of the Latitude/Longitude(X/Y) coordinates representing the geographic center (centroid) of thecell site/cell site sector actor area currently associated with themobile device where an emergency text message dialogue is initiated.

The TCC 150 also may request routing instructions from one or morerouting functional entities. Furthermore, the TCC 140 will initiate adialogue with one or more regional PSAPs, such as PSAP 170, PSAP 180 andPSAP 190 through one or more interworking functions (IWFs) as will beexplained in more detail below with reference to FIG. 2. Moreover, eachregional PSAP employs customer premise equipment (CPE) terminalequipment at each regional PSAP as explained below in connection withFIG. 3.

Each regional PSAP (e.g., PSAP 170, PSAP 180 and PSAP 190) operatesunder common management which receives 9-1-1 calls as well as textmessages (e.g., a plurality of text messages 160) in accordance withspecifically defined geographical areas and processes those calls andtext messages according to a predetermined operational policy. That is,PSAP is a facility equipped and staffed to receive 9-1-1 calls. RegionalPSAP (in accordance with a predetermined operational policy) can bedesignated as a primary PSAP to receive calls/messages directly if thecall/message is relayed or transferred to/from the next receivingregional PSAP which is designated as a Secondary PSAP. For example, in apredetermined region, PSAP 170 could be designated as the primary PSAP,with PSAP 180 serving as a secondary PSAP, while one or more PSAPs, suchas PSAP 190, serves as the backup regional PSAP.

TCC 150 may be further configured to determine in a dialogue withregional PSAPs whether text message coverage is available and whether abounce-back message should be issued to a mobile terminal. For example,a bounce-back message can be send in the event that a PSAP coverageregion is not capable of receiving end-users SMS messages from within MT112, MT 122A, MT 122B, or MT 132 (and no alternatives PSAPs areavailable). The content of the bounce-back message can, for example,inform the user that text to 9-1-1 service is not available and that theuser should make a voice call to 911 for help. Alternatively, the TCC150 may also issue a bounce-back message if an error occurs incommunicating with a P SAP. Some examples of errors are where no courselocation information (cell site location) for the mobile device can beobtained or determined Another error could be where no PSAPconfiguration information is available for the subscriber's currentlocation, or the PSAP configuration information for the subscriber'scurrent location is incomplete, invalid, or cannot be retrieved. Yetanother ground for issuing a bounce-back message could be where an erroroccurred while trying to route the text message signaling to theassociated PSAP.

In one example embodiment, the short message service (SMS) to 9-1-1emergency service system 100, shown in FIG. 1, could adhere to some orall of the requirements and architectural specifications set forth bythe Joint Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) andthe Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in their standard“Native SMS TO 9-1-1 Requirements and Architecture Specification,”approved March 2013 (hereinafter “J-STD-110”). The J-STD-110 standarddefines the requirements, architecture and procedures for text messagingto 9-1-1 emergency services using native wireless operator SMScapabilities for existing generations and next generation (NG9-1-1)PSAPs.

According to J-STD-110, a variety of approaches for delivery of SMS to9-1-1 messages to PSAP is supported. The three main types of deliverymechanisms are: (a) delivery to a legacy emergency services networkusing teletypewriter (TTY) inter-working (IWF) function; (b) delivery toa transitional PSAP by way of a web service application; and (c)delivery to a national emergency number association (NENA) i3 emergencyservices IP network (ESInet) which ultimately supports two more types ofdelivery, (to both legacy and NG9-1-1 i3 PSAPs). Example embodimentsprovide methods and computer programs related to legacy PSAPs andtransitional PSAPs where no location information is provided to eitherPSAP.

Referring now to FIG. 2, that drawing shows a text control centeradapted to connect to one or more legacy public safety access points 200in accordance with some example embodiments. In the interest ofsimplicity, only one SMS MC and one legacy PSAP is shown. As shown inFIG. 2, a SMS message center 210 is coupled to TCC 220. As describedabove and shown in FIG. 1, each mobile terminal (e.g., MT 112, MT 122A,MT 122B, or MT 132) is connected to a radio access network which employsa SMS MC (e.g., SMS MC SMS MC 115, SMS MC 125, or SMS MC 135). The xt1reference point (xt1) shown in FIG. 2 describes a reference pointbetween SMS MC 210 and the TCC 220. The xt1 reference point is abidirectional interface that allows a citizen-initiated SMS message tobe transported through SMS MC 220 to TCC 220. In addition, the legacyPSAP 240 may response respond with a text message and the TCC 220converts that text message to native SMS and forwards that message tothe citizen through the SMS MC 210. In one example embodiment, the xt1employs a short message peer-to-peer protocol (SMPP).

In FIG. 2, location-based services (LBS) are employed which provide aframework that specifies all the necessary network elements andentities, their functionalities, interfaces and communication messagesthat are required to implement the positioning functionality in awireless network. LBS are network capabilities that enable thedeployment of location-based (value-added) services. LBS are separateand distinct from E9-1-1 location services. When TCC 220 receives aninitial native SMS message, it obtains location information from LS 230.It then uses that location to obtain routing instructions from RS 240.Then, TCC 220 converts the native SMS message to an appropriate protocoland initiates a dialogue with either legacy PSAP 260 and/or transitionalPSAP 250 (via the emergency services network) through teletypewriter(TTY) interworking function (IWF) 224 and/or hypertext transfer protocol(HTTP) interworking function (IWF) 328.

Location server (LS) 230 is a functional element responsible forproviding the location that can be used to route the text message to aPSAP. LS 230 may obtain a course location by obtaining cell sitelocation, or may obtain the mobile device's location using commerciallocation-based services (LBS) (not shown) of the serving network. Whenqueried by the TCC 220, LS 230 will invoke processes to obtain thelocation and return that location to the TCC 220 for routing.

An xr1 reference point is shown in FIG. 2 to describe the interfacebetween TCC 220 and LS 230 which allows TCC 220 to query for locationusing the mobile terminal identifier. Some non-limiting examples of amobile terminal identifier are; an international subscriber directorynumber (MSISDN), international mobile equipment identity (IMSI), mobilestation roaming number (MSRN), local area identity (LAI), temporarymobile subscriber identity (TMSI), local mobile subscriber identity(LMSI), or cell identifier (CI) that was received from the SMS MC 210.The location interworking function (IWF) 225 coupled to TCC 220 querieswith the mobile terminal identifier and LS 230 responds with a location.In one example embodiment, a mobile location protocol (MLP) is employedusing a standard location immediate service (SLIP) of MLP that is usedfor requesting the location of one or more mobile devices (i.e., usedwhen immediate response is required).

Routing server (RS) 240 is a functional entity which facilitates routingof SMS messages to the appropriate PSAP based on a location (i.e.,information or data regarding a location). The location may be a courselocation or the granular position of the mobile device, depending uponthe location technology employed. RS 240 supports a mechanism by whichlocation information—either civic address or geo-coordinates and aservice uniform resource name (URN) (i.e., urn:service:sos)—serves as aninput to a mapping function that returns a URI used to route a textmessage toward the appropriate PSAP based upon the location provided byLS 230. A civic address is a house number, street address and communityname while a geodetic location is a point, polygon, ellipse, circle orarc-band. However, example embodiments do not provide the civic addressor geodetic location to the legacy or transitional PSAP.

The xr2 reference point describes the interface between the TCC 220 andRS 240 which allows TCC 220 to use the location it received from LS 230to query RS 240 for routing instructions. In particular, the routinginterworking function (IFW) couple to TCC 220 queries RS 240 regardinglocation and service URN and the RS 240 responds with a route URI thatallows TCC 220 to route the messages to the appropriate emergencyservice network. The TCC 220 may be required to transpose the locationreceived by the LS 230 to the location format required by the RS 240. Inone example embodiment, a location-to-service translation protocol(LoST) is employed. More specifically, the LoST protocol is an XML-basedprotocol for mapping service identifiers and geodetic or civic locationinformation to service contact URIs. In particular, it can be used todetermine the location-appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)for emergency services. In some embodiments, a findService request isemployed by TCC 220 to query for location and the findServiceResponse isused by the RS 240 to return the location.

A. Legacy Public Safety Answering Point

Also as shown in FIG. 2, a legacy PSAP 260 is interconnected by way of atraditional time division multiplex (TDM) interface (e.g., TDMcircuit-switched telephony) to a selective Router 250. Legacy PSAP 260can also be coupled to an automatic location identification (ALI)database/gateway (not shown) by way of traditional PSAP-to-ALIinterfaces. However, some example embodiments assume that such ALIfunctionality is not available to legacy PSAP 260. Accordingly, legacyPSAP 260 uses a centralized automatic message CAMA or (custom)integrated services digital network (ISDN) technology for delivery oftext to 9-1-1 by use of TTY tones by way of TTY interworking interface224.

Selective router (RS) 230 (e.g., E9-1-1 Tandem or Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1Control Office) provides the tandem switching of E9-1-1 calls. That is,the E9-1-1 tandem controls delivery of the voice call with ANI to thePSAP and provides selective routing, speed calling, selective transfer,fixed transfer and certain maintenance functions for each PSAP. ANI isautomatic number identification the telephone number associated with theaccess line from which a call originates. However, example embodimentsassume that such ANI is not able to resolve the identity of the citizencaller who originates a text message from a mobile terminal (as such thecaller's ID which is not available to legacy PSAP 260).

The xt2 reference point is located between TCC 220 and the SR 230 anddelivers text to a legacy PSAP using TTY. The TCC 220 must establish acall emulating wireline compatibility mode (WCM) or non-call associatedsignaling (NCAS) as defined by J-STD-034. In particular, TCC 220 createsa reference identifier (pANI) and initiates a call to SR 230. Once thecall is established, TCC 220 initiates the TTY handshake within themedia. The text message is then sent character by character to thelegacy PSAP 240 via the SR 230. Moreover, the legacy PSAP 260 mayrespond character by character to TCC 220 through SR 230. TCC 220 thenformats a message back towards the citizen in the form of a native SMSmessage by way of the SMS interworking interface 220 to a SMS messagecenter. In one example embodiment, the xt2 reference point employs asignal system (SS) 7 protocol.

B. Transitional Public Safety Answering Point

FIG. 2 shows a transitional PSAP 270 coupled to a HTTP interworkingfunction (IWF) 228. An xt5 reference point describes the interfacebetween the transitional PSAP 270 and HTTP IWF 228. The HTTP IWF 228coupled to TCC 220 utilizes the Internet to send and receive textmessages created by over-the-top SMS text messaging applications, aswell as other native SMS messages applications (converted to textmessages) which do not include location information sent to transitionalPSAP 270.

Referring now to FIG. 3 further detail is provided regarding a regionalpublic safety answering point shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with exampleembodiments. Regional PSAP 300 illustrates particular aspects of someembodiments where a plurality of computer aided dispatch (CAD) units 310are adapted to provide context-aware linkage between native shortmessage service messages and a public safety incident. That is, eachregional PSAP shown in FIG. 1 comprises a plurality of CAD units 310,such as CAD 320, CAD 330 and CAD 340.

As shown in FIG. 3, call/message takers 320-1, 330-1 and 330-3 arehighly trained 9-1-1 dispatcher skilled in handling emergency callsand/or messages from citizens is a predetermined region and routingthose calls and/or messages to first responders. Each CAD unit includesone or more computers such as 320-2, 330-2, and 330-3 where eachcomputer is coupled to a plurality of displays, such as displays 320-3,330-3, and 340-3. Each of the plurality of display screens (e.g., two ormore displays) allows a call/message taker to experience a swivel freeinterface with an emergency services CAD computer program by way of aplurality of dialogue windows displayed on high resolution monitors, forexample, as shown in FIG. 5 and described below. Each computer iscoupled to a one or more local or remote public safety databases, suchas 320-4, 330-4 and 340-4. Also, each computer is coupled to one or morecommunication networks, such as 320-5, 330-5, and 340-5. Non-limitingexamples of communication networks include the Internet as well assecure intranets such as federal, state, local public safety (andprivate public safety consulting firms), and local/remote data bases aswell coupled to TCC 150. The functional elements of each CAD emergencyservices call/message taker/dispatch computer program will be describedin more detail below with reference to FIG. 4 (as well as throughseveral examples of emergency text message dialogue among citizens via amobile terminal and a message taker via a CAD program at a PSAP).

Referring now to FIG. 4, a computer aided dispatcher (CAD) 400 suitablefor providing context-aware linkage between native short message servicemessages and a public safety incident is shown in accordance with someexample embodiments. CAD 400 includes one or more processing devices,such as at least one digital signal processor (DSP) 410. DSP 410 can bea microcontroller, microprocessor or field programmable gate array orthe like.

Also included is at least one computer-readable memory tangiblyembodying a program of instructions executable by WDC 400. For the sakeof simplicity in illustrating example embodiments, a plurality ofmemories 460 is shown in FIG. 4. Each such memory is adapted togetherwith DSP 420 to provide context-aware linkage between native shortmessage service messages and a public safety incident. As will beappreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosuremay be embodied as an apparatus that incorporates some softwarecomponents. Accordingly, some embodiments of the present disclosure, orportions thereof, may combine one or more hardware components, such asmicroprocessors, microcontrollers, or digital sequential logic devices(such as a processor with one or more software components such asprogram code, firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) stored in atangible computer-readable memory device such as a tangible computermemory device, that in combination form a specifically configuredapparatus that performs the functions as described herein. Thesecombinations that form specially-programmed devices may be generallyreferred to herein as “modules”. The software component portions of themodules may be written in any computer language and may be a portion ofa monolithic code base, or may be developed in more discrete codeportions, such as is typical in object-oriented computer languages. Inaddition, the modules may be distributed across a plurality of computerplatforms, servers, terminals, mobile devices and the like. A givenmodule may even be implemented such that the described functions areperformed by separate processors and/or computing hardware platforms.

For example, a first computer-readable memory 470 stores a plurality ofcomputer programs, such as a method, program of function for a computeraided dispatcher. In one example embodiment, a first receiving shortmessage service function 472 is provided for receiving, by a publicsafety answering point, a plurality of emergency short message service(SMS) messages from one or more citizens over a wireless communicationnetwork, each emergency SMS message including a mobile terminalidentifier. For example, a plurality of communication ports 410 areprovided, each adapted to provide connectivity to remote communicationnetworks. For example, COM 412 could be employed by to access theInternet by a transitional public safety answering point (P SAP) toconnect to a text control center (TCC) employing a HTTP IWF.Alternatively, COM 414 could be employed by a legacy PSAP to connect toa TCC employing a TTY IWF.

Also shown in FIG. 4, a display function 474 is adapted to display eachemergency SMS message in one or more display dialogue windows. Thedisplay function is further adapted to display the dialogue windows onone or more monitor displays 430, such as display 432, display 434,and/or display 436. A highlighting function 476 is adapted to receive acommand to highlight a portion of at least one of the emergency SMSmessage. The command to highlight a portion of the emergency SMS messagecan be input by way of a human machine interface (HMI) 444, such asmouse or other pointer device and/or input from a keyboard 444. Eachhighlighted portion is stored into one or more buffers, such as aplurality of buffers 450, (e.g., buffer 452, buffer 454, and buffer456). The highlighted portion can be all or less than all of theemergency SMS message as determined by a call/message taker (e.g., 9-1-1operator). The first memory 470 also includes an associate/assignfunction 478 adapted to receive a command to associate the highlightedportion with one of a plurality of context fields in an emergencyincident information report, the associated highlighted portion,selected context field and mobile terminal identifier stored in memory.

A second computer-readable memory 480 is adapted to store a plurality ofcontext fields. For example, a message identifier label 482 which allowsa call/message taker to label a text message dialogue for quicklyidentifying the SMS message. The call/message taker could selectivelyhighlight the first four words of the citizen texter's SMS message, orselect key words such as “someone is being robbed at gunpoint.” Anotherpossible context field can include an initial caller field 483 whichwould store citizen information such as the individuals first name anindividual filed, the surname in an individual field, both the firstname and surname in one field, alternative phone number, address, cityand apartment or unit number. Yet another possible context field is anincident location field 484 which can include the street address,apartment or unit number and city information. In some embodiments,information pertaining to cross street information or names of parks,institutions or other landmarks can be included. In further embodiments,a street address, intersection, or common place associated with theincident may be included, or a city associated with the incident, or anapartment number or unit associated with the incident.

Further functions can be provided to enhance the identification of thelocation of the incident such as a query, verifying or mapping function(which can be adapted to access local or remote mapping data or relatedglobal positioning resources). For example, COM 416 could be employed toaccess mapping data or related global positioning sources. Anothercontext field can include a plurality of fields describing vehicles 485involved in an emergency incident (e.g., make, model, and year). Thirdparties, witnesses and/or victims or alleged perpetrators 488 can bealso included in one or more context fields.

A third computer-readable memory 490 is adapted to store a plurality ofmobile terminal identifiers 492. Some non-limiting examples of a mobileterminal identifier are; an international subscriber directory number(MSISDN), international mobile equipment identity (IMSI), mobile stationroaming number (MSRN), local area identity (LAI), temporary mobilesubscriber identity (TMSI), local mobile subscriber identity (LMSI) orcell identifier (CI) that was received from the SMS message center (MC).Also stored in the third computer-readable memory 490 are plurality ofemergency incident forms 494. An example of an emergency incident formis shown in FIG. 6, which is described in more detail below.

CAD 400 can be located on a standalone computer, laptop or othercomputer device. Alternatively, CAD 400 can be located on a remoteserver and accessed by way of a locally installed client program, or byway of one or more emulated client sessions over a broadband connectionbetween a plurality of computer nodes and a server or severalapplications stored in a distributed communication network. Anotherexample embodiment can include a program storage device readable by amachine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by themachine for causing performance of operations in accordance with exampleembodiments.

Several non-limiting examples of CAD programs (and a description ofnon-limiting example computer program graphical user interfaces) whichprovide context-aware linkage between native short message servicemessages and a public safety incident will be described in accordancewith example embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 5, a monitor screen is shown displaying a plurality ofpublic safety dialogue windows 500 which are discrete modules of acomputer aided dispatch program adapted for providing context-awarelinkage between native short message service messages and a publicsafety incident in accordance with example embodiments. In one exampleembodiment, each one of the plurality of public safety dialogue windows500 can be selectively moved, resized or minimized (hidden) within thearea of the monitor screen or moved to one or more monitor screens(e.g., FIG. 3, monitors 320-3). In an alternative embodiment, aplurality of safety dialogue windows can be part of a monolithic module.

In FIG. 5, a time and date dialogue window 510 is provided which isadapted to display the correct time and date for a call/message taker'sready reference. The time and date dialogue window 510 can be resizedand/or locked, as well as stylistically presented (e.g., the type ofclock selected can be analog, digital or another type). The time anddate dialogue window 510 can optionally include a stop watch, as well asother time and date functionality, such as a world clock, time zoneschematic and a time or date duration calculator. An emergency incidentform 530 is also shown which is described in more detail below as wellas shown in FIG. 6. A dial region dialogue window 540 is provided toallow the call/message taker to selectively call a citizen caller orother first responders or various third parties. Dial region dialoguewindow 540 can include multi-line support, as well as provide aplurality of typical calling features such as a hold button, intercombutton, speaker button, a call conferencing button, a transfer button, apark button, a release button as well as a one or more programmablespeed dial buttons. In one example embodiment, a speed dial button canbe one or more speed dial buttons associated with each native SMSmessage received by the message/call taker from one or more citizensconcerning an emergency incident. Dial region dialogue window 540 canalso display the call number and call duration.

Also shown in FIG. 5, is a pending emergency incidences dialogue window550 which displays a summary of incidents logged by a message/calltaker. The pending emergency incidences dialogue window 550 can also asummary of incidents logged by other message/call takers in the sameregional public safety answering point, a secondary PSAP, or any otherPSAP in a public safety communication network or emergency services IPnetwork (eslPnet). The pending emergency incidences dialogue window 550can provide a summary list of emergency incidents. That summary list caninclude a number of categories of incident information, such as anincident number, an incident state (e.g., active, closed), an incidenttype (e.g., accident, crime type such as burglary, robbery, etc., aswell as alarm activation, fire and EMS), an incident location and areference number or unit number of a first responder handling a 9-1-1call or SMS message. Each of the categories of incident information issubject to selective sorting by column or row by the message/call taker.

A message status window 560 is provided for displaying a summary of oneor more emergency SMS text messages received by a regional PSAP. Furtherdetail is provided in the description below and in FIG. 7. An emergencytext message window 570 is displayed, providing an opportunity for atext-based dialogue between a citizen and a call/message taker. That is,as described above and shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a citizen can send anative SMS text message from his or her mobile terminal by entering atext message and code “9-1-1.” Thereafter the text control center (TCC),as shown in FIG. 2 for example, directs the native SMS text message to aregional PSAP (e.g., legacy or transitional PSAP) after converting theoriginal message into a format that PSAP can understand. A call/messagetaker adaptively interacts with a CAD GUI in accordance with exampleembodiments to reply back to the citizen by way of the TCC. Accordingly,the call/message taker can enter text in whitespace 572 to reply to thecitizen and select the send button 574. Should call/message taker needto focus on another task, or need to conduct research on a reportedincident emergency text message, the window 570 can be minimized byselecting the hide button 576. If call/message taker determines that themessage dialogue is complete, he or she can select the end button toclose the emergency text message window 570. Regardless of the outcomeof the message dialogue, the transcript of the message will be saved inmemory, together with a label, message duration and a citizen caller'sphone number as will be described in more detail below with reference toFIG. 7. The mobile terminal identifier of the citizen will also bestored in memory with the archived message transcript which can betransparent or hidden form the call/message taker.

Also shown in FIG. 5 is a transfer region dialogue window 580 which canprovide various selectable transfer buttons to assign an incident to oneor more first responders or other public safety support personnel. Forexample, a selectable transfer buttons can be provided to contact firstresponders such as various levels of law enforcement (e.g., localpolice, county police, state police transit police, the Federal Bureauof Investigation and the like), one or more fire departments, andemergency services paramedics and the like. Additional selectabletransfer buttons can be provided to contact language translationprofessionals, animal control, and the department of public works. Inone example embodiment, selecting one of the selectable transfer buttonsadds the selected first responders or other public safety supportpersonnel into the text message dialogue.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example of a public safety emergencyincident report 600 adapted for providing context-aware linkage betweennative short message service messages and a public safety incident inaccordance with example embodiments. As shown in FIG. 6, the publicsafety emergency incident report 600 includes several layers ofform-Tillable information such as a plurality of tabs 610. For example,a general tab 610 which allows a call/message taker to input incidentlocation information 620, such as by entering the street address orlandmark address into whitespace 622. Alternatively, the call/messagetaker can input a city or subdivision, building number, floor number,apartment or unit number, zip code. The call/message taker can look-upthe inputted location address by selecting a query button 624 (e.g.,determine that the address exists), verify the address by selecting averify button 626 (e.g., determine if a dwelling or business is locatedat the address as opposed to a vacate lot) or map the address byselecting a map it button 628. The map it button 628 can access locallystored map programs or remote global positioning satellite-based mapprogram. After that access is made either a map program can be accessedor a map of the specific location incident can be displayed in a pop-upwindow. Additional information can be input into form-Tillable fields inthe incident location information 620, such as a location name (e.g.,victim's home, location of the accident or crime and the like) togetherwith additional location description, as well as an indication ofwhether the citizen is still at the incident location.

The general tab 610 can also include one or more form-fillable fieldsadapted to receive input related to the type of incident 630. Forexample, an incident type label 632 can be identified by selecting anincident type drop-down menu 632 (e.g., crime, fire, accident, alarmactivation, and the like). A recommended responding agency can beselected by selecting an agency type down-down menu 634 (Police, Fire,EMS and the like). Comments can be entered into an incident commentwhite space 636. Additional comments can be added as the incidentprogresses over time, as well as a change in the incident can beindicated by selecting a modify circumstances drop-down menu 638.

The general tab 610 can also include one or more initial calleridentification form-Tillable fields 640. For example, the first name,middle name, surname, address and telephone number can be input into oneor more form-fillable fields. A call button can be provided to allow acall/message taker to quickly call the citizen engaged an emergency textmessage dialogue. For example, the number can be the mobile terminalnumber from which the citizen is texting, another mobile terminal or atelephone connected to a landline.

After inputting the information from a message dialogue, an incident addbutton 612 can be selected which will assign a particular incident aunique incident number associated with the emergency incident. Anemergency incident form 660 can be adapted to provide an interface to aplurality or series of pending emergency incident forms 650. Forexample, a first incident 652, a second incident 654, a third incident656 and include a predetermined maximum or minimum number of incidents658 as determined by program settings. Optionally, archiving of inactiveincidents can be provided after a set number of hours or days.

Additional optional tabs such as a person tab 660, vehicle tab 670 and aschedule tab 680 can be provided and associated to each emergencyincident form. For example, additional victims, perpetrators orwitnesses can be input into a plurality of fields providing names,address, telephone numbers and physical descriptions of thoseindividuals. In the event of a car accident or stolen car, vehicledescription information such as the make, model, year and color as wellas license tags can be input into a plurality of form-Tillable fieldsunder the vehicle tab 670. A scheduling tab 680 can be provided in theevent of a situation where a citizen requests a police patrol at aspecific time of the day or night.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a status text window suitable for displayingsummary data of one or more SMS message dialogues 700 is shown inaccordance with example embodiment. That is, FIG. 7 is a status textwindow similar to that shown in FIG. 5 and described above. However,more detail is now provided to that status text window for the purposeof providing a description of the operation of example embodiments withreference to FIG. 8, and FIG. 12 to FIG. 14 below. Additionally,reference back to FIG. 1, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 helps to illustrate the textmessage flows between a plurality of citizens and a regional publicsafety answering point (legacy or transitional P SAP).

As shown in FIG. 7, a first text message dialogue 710 includes areference number (i.e., SMS #1), a message label (i.e., “My house is onfire”), a message duration (i.e., 56 seconds) and the mobile telephonenumber of the originating mobile terminal (i.e., (708) 555-5551). Asecond text message dialogue 720 includes a reference number (i.e., SMS#2), a message label (i.e., “just got into car accident”), messageduration (i.e., 1 minute, 1 second) and the mobile telephone number ofthe originating mobile terminal (i.e., (708) 555-5552). A third textmessage dialogue 730 includes a reference number (i.e., SMS #3), amessage label (i.e., “Can you send an ambulance”), a message duration(43 seconds) and the mobile telephone number of the originating mobileterminal (i.e., (708) 555-5553). A fourth text message dialogue 740includes a reference number (i.e., SMS #4), a message label (i.e.,“someone is being robbed at gun”), a message duration (i.e., 1 minute,45 seconds) and the mobile telephone number of the originating mobileterminal (i.e., (708) 555-5554).

Referring now to FIG. 8, a related native SMS message pop-up window 800to FIG. 7's first text message dialogue 710, is shown (i.e., byselecting first text message dialogue 710 by way of a HMI or variousshort-cut key strokes). FIG. 8 contains a transcript of a messagedialogue from a citizen reporting a fire in their home. For example,referring back to FIG. 1, the citizen could be citizen #1 (33) whosehome 111 is on fire.

In one example embodiment, a call/message taker can interact withcitizen #1 (33) by entering responses in white space 830 and selectingthe send button 840, periodically selecting the hide button 850 ifrequired to perform another task, and selecting the end button aftereliciting the necessary information. In one example embodiment, thecall/message taker can highlight a portion of each segment of citizen#1's initial message or subsequent responses. That information can bereadily inserted into a form-fillable incident form such as that shownin FIG. 6 and described above. The highlighted portion can be all orless than all of the initial message or subsequent responses. Forexample, in FIG. 8 citizen #1 (10) makes the initial statement “my houseis on fire.” In response, a call/message taker highlights that statementin its entirety (i.e. my house is on fire) 822. By way of right clickingon a mouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on akeyboard, an option menu 900 appears which provides several options.That is, the call/message taker can place the highlighted portion intomemory by way of a copy comment 912 which saves “My house is on fire”822 into one or more buffer memories. Alternatively, the call/messagetaker can set the highlighted portion as a label 914 suitable forquickly identifying the incident which can be saved in into permanentmemory, such as read only memory. The resulting designated label willappear at the top of the native SMS message pop-up window 800 shown inFIG. 8 and in the first text message dialogue 710 in the related statustext window 700 shown in FIG. 7.

Call/message taker can next proceed to do one of three tasks: (1) startan open emergency incident report (934), (2) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #1(10) toan open emergency incident report (932), or (3) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #1(10) tospecific form-fillable fields in an emergency incident report 920.

For example, the call/message taker can highlight a portion of a secondtext message from citizen #1(10) such as the location of the house fire824. Referring to FIG. 10, by way of right clicking on a mouse, orentering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, an optionmenu 1000 appears and provides for selection of the incident location1010. The call/message taker associates the highlighted address, 180Main St., Blue Island, to a location field. Referring back to FIG. 6,the associated highlighted address, 180 Main St., Blue Island, isinserted in the location field 622. The call/message taker canoptionally select the hide button 850 to perform this task, oralternatively, not hide the window by moving the emergency incident formon to an available portion of one of the plurality of monitor displays.

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of a fourth textresponse from citizen #1(10) (e.g., the name of the citizen, which isBetty White) 826. Referring to FIG. 11, by way of right clicking on amouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, anoption menu 1100 appears which allows for selection of the initialcaller 1110. Referring back to FIG. 6, the associated highlighted nameis inserted in name field 640. The call/message taker can againoptionally select the hide button 850 to perform this task, oralternatively, not hide the window by moving the emergency incident formon to an available portion of one of the plurality of monitor displays.

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of an eighth andtenth text response from citizen #1(10), which provided informationpertaining to the current location of the citizen, as well as hercurrent state of health 828. Referring to FIG. 9, by way of rightclicking on a mouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on akeyboard, an option menu 900 appears where a comment field 924 isselected. Referring back to FIG. 6, the associated highlighted comments(i.e., “in my driveway” and “having trouble breathing”) is inserted inthe comment field 636. The call/message taker can optionally edit thecomments provided by citizen #1, such as prepending “the home owner is”to the comment “in my driveway,” deleting the word “my” along the way,and leaving the comment “having trouble breathing”).

Referring now to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, an example illustration is nowprovided which provides context to two native SMS messages dialoguesthat were received by a regional PSAP and that both related to a singleincident, such as incident number 2 (120) shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a native SMS message pop-up window 1200related to FIG. 7's second text message dialogue 720 is shown. Thatpop-up window is displayed by selecting second text message dialogue 720by way of a HMI function or various short-cut key strokes. FIG. 12contains a transcript of a message dialogue from a citizen reporting acar accident. For example, referring back to FIG. 1, the citizen couldbe citizen #2 (22) who is involved in a multi-car accident.

In one example embodiment, a call/message taker can interact withcitizen #2(22) by entering responses in white space 1230 and selectingthe send button 1240, periodically selecting the hide button 1250 ifrequired to perform another task, and selecting the end button 1260after eliciting the necessary information. In one example embodiment,the call/message taker can highlight a portion of each segment ofcitizen #2's initial message or subsequent responses. That informationcan be readily inserted into a form-Tillable incident form, such as thatshown in FIG. 6 and described above. The highlighted portion can be all,or less than all, of the initial message or subsequent responses. Forexample, in FIG. 12 citizen #2 (22) makes the initial statement “I justgot into car accident.” In response, a call/message taker highlightspart of that statement (i.e., “just got into car accident”) 1222. By wayof right clicking on a mouse, or entering one or more keystrokecombinations on a keyboard, an option menu 900 appears which providesseveral options. That is, the call/message taker can place thehighlighted portion into memory by way of a copy comment 912 which saves“just got into car accident” 1222 into one or more buffer memory.Alternatively, call/message taker can set the highlighted portion as alabel 914 suitable for quickly identifying the incident which can besaved in into permanent memory, such as a read only memory. Theresulting designated label will appear at the top of the native SMSmessage pop-up window 1200 shown in FIG. 12 and in the second textmessage dialogue 712 in the related status text window 700 shown in FIG.7.

The call/message taker can next proceed to do one of three tasks: (1)start an open emergency incident report (934), (2) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #2 (22) toan open emergency incident report (932), or (3) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #1 tospecific form-fillable fields in an emergency incident report 920.

For example, the call/message taker can highlight a portion of a secondtext message from citizen #2 (22) which is the location of the caraccident 1224. Referring to FIG. 10, by way of right clicking on a mouseor entering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, an optionmenu 1000 appears where the incident location 1010 can be selected. Thecall/message taker associates the highlighted address, 180 Main St.,Blue Island, to a location field. Referring back to FIG. 6, theassociated highlighted address, 180 Main St., Blue Island, is insertedin location field 622. The call/message taker can optionally select thehide button 850 to perform this task, or alternatively, not hide thewindow by moving the emergency incident form on to an available portionof one of the plurality of monitor displays.

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of a fourth textresponse from citizen #2 (22), which is the name of the citizen (i.e.,Fredrick Macintosh) 1226. Referring to FIG. 11, by way of right clickingon a mouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on akeyboard, an option menu 1100 appear where initial caller 1110 isselected. Referring back to FIG. 6, the associated highlighted name isinserted in the name field 640. The call/message taker can againoptionally select the hide button 850 to perform this task, oralternatively not hide the window by moving the emergency incident formon to an available portion of one of the plurality of monitor displays.

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of a third textresponse from citizen #2 (22), which is information pertaining to thestate of health of citizen #2 (22) and that of any other individualinvolved in the car accident (i.e., “fender bender) 1228. Referring toFIG. 9, by way of right clicking on a mouse, or entering one or morekeystroke combinations on a keyboard, an option menu 900 appears wherethe comment field 924 is selected. Referring back to FIG. 6, theassociated highlighted comment (i.e., “fender bender”) is inserted intothe comment field 636. The call/message taker can optionally edit or addtext to this comment, such as appending the words “no injuries toreport” to citizen #2's statement “just a fender bender.”

Referring now to FIG. 13, a related native SMS message pop-up window1300 to FIG. 7's third text message dialogue 730 is shown. That pop-upwindow is displayed by selecting the third text message dialogue 730 byway of a HMI function or various short-cut key strokes. FIG. 13 containsa transcript of a message dialogue from a citizen reporting the same caraccident as reported by another citizen. This information may not beimmediately apparent to the call/message taker. For example, referringback to FIG. 1, the citizen could be citizen #3(24) who is involved inthe multi-car accident with citizen #3(24).

In one example embodiment, a call/message taker can interact withcitizen #3(24) by entering responses in white space 1330 and selectingthe send button 1340, periodically selecting the hide button 1350 ifrequired to perform another task, and, finally, selecting the end button1360 after eliciting the necessary information. In one exampleembodiment, the call/message taker can highlight a portion of eachsegment of citizen #3's initial message or subsequent responses. Thatinformation can be readily inserted into a form-Tillable incident formsuch as that shown in FIG. 6 and described above. The highlightedportion can be all, or less than all, of the initial message orsubsequent responses. For example, in FIG. 13, citizen #3(24) makes theinitial statement “I just got into car accident.” In response, acall/message taker highlights part of that statement (i.e., “Can yousend an ambulance”) 1322. By way of right clicking on a mouse, orentering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, an optionmenu 900 appears which provides several options. That is, thecall/message taker can place the highlighted portion into memory by wayof a copy comment 912 which saves “Can you send an ambulance” 1322 intoone or more buffer memories. Alternatively, the call/message taker canset the highlighted portion as a label 914 suitable for quicklyidentifying the incident which can be saved in a permanent memory, suchas read only memory. The resulting designated label will appear at thetop of the native SMS message pop-up window 1300 shown in FIG. 13 and inthe third text message dialogue 732 in the related status text window700 shown in FIG. 7.

The call/message taker can next proceed to do one of three tasks: (1)start an open emergency incident report (934), (2) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #2 (22) toan open emergency incident report (932), or (3) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #1(10) tospecific form-fillable fields in an emergency incident report 920.

For example, the call/message taker can highlight a portion of a secondtext message from citizen #3(24) which is the location of the caraccident 1324. Referring to FIG. 10, by way of right clicking on amouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, anoption menu 1000 appear where incident location 1010 is selected. Thecall/message taker associates the highlighted address, “Main St.,Harvey, near E 148^(th) Street,” 1324 to a location field. Referringback to FIG. 6, the associated highlighted address, “Main St., Harvey,near E 148^(th) Street,” 1324 is inserted in the location field 622. Thecall/message taker can optionally select the hide button 850 to performthis task, or alternatively, not hide the window by moving the emergencyincident form onto an available portion of one of the plurality ofmonitor displays. Alternatively, referring back to FIG. 6, the emergencyincident report responds with a blinking query button 624 prompting thecall/message taker to elicit more information pertaining to the incidentlocation (not shown).

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of a third textresponse from citizen #3 (24), which is the name of the citizen (i.e.,Michael Douglas) 1326. Referring to FIG. 11, by way of right clicking ona mouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard,an option menu 1100 appears in which information regarding the initialcaller 1110 can be selected. Referring back to FIG. 6, the associatedhighlighted name is inserted in name field 640. The call/message takercan again optionally select the hide button 850 to perform this task, oralternatively, not hide the window by moving the emergency incident formonto an available portion of one of the plurality of monitor displays.

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of a fifth textresponse from citizen #3 (24), which is information pertaining to thestate of health of citizen #3 (24) (e.g., “my neck and my back are inpain”) 1328. Referring to FIG. 9, by way of right clicking on a mouse,or entering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, an optionmenu 900 appears where the comment field 924 is selected. Referring backto FIG. 6, the associated highlighted comments (i.e., “my neck and myback are in pain”) is inserted in comment field 636. The call/messagetaker can optionally edit or add text to this comment, such as appendingthe words “Driver reports” to citizen #3's statement “my neck and myback are in pain” as well as delete the words “my.”

Additional information related to the other driver, vehicle make, modeland color of the vehicles involved in the car accident could beelicited. For example, the call/message taker could conclude thatcitizen #3(24) is actually the other driver involved in the priorreported car accident discussed in the above text dialogue in FIG. 12.Accordingly, the call/message taker could avoid opening a secondemergency incident report, or alternatively could close one of thosereports and merge the content into one report. Moreover, the single ormerged emergency incident report could be associated with the earlierreported house fire in that the car accident occurred directly in frontof the house fire (e.g., perhaps one or both of the drivers weredistracted looking at the fire).

Referring now to FIG. 14, that drawing helps to illustrate and providecontext to a single native SMS message dialogue received by a regionalPSAP, such as incident number 3 (130) shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG.14, a related native SMS message pop-up window 1400 to FIG. 7's fourthtext message dialogue 740 is shown (i.e., by selecting fourth textmessage dialogue 740 by way of a HMI function or various short-cut keystrokes). FIG. 14 contains a transcript of a message dialogue from acitizen reporting a car accident. For example, referring back to FIG. 1,the citizen could be citizen #4 (33) who is witnessing an armed robbery.

In one example embodiment, a call/message taker can interact withcitizen #4 (33) by entering responses in white space 1430 and selectingthe send button 1440, periodically selecting the hide button 1450 ifrequired to perform another task, and, finally, selecting the end button1460 after eliciting the necessary information. In one exampleembodiment, the call/message taker can highlight a portion of eachsegment of citizen #4's initial message or subsequent responses. Thatinformation can be readily inserted into a form-Tillable incident form,such as that shown in FIG. 6 and described above. The highlightedportion can be all, or less than all, of the initial message orsubsequent responses. For example, in FIG. 14, citizen #4 (33) makes theinitial statement “HELP, someone is being robbed at gunpoint inLexington Park.” In response, a call/message taker highlights part ofthat statement (i.e., “someone is being robbed at gunpoint”) 1422. Byway of right clicking on a mouse, or entering one or more keystrokecombinations on a keyboard, an option menu 900 appears which providesseveral options. That is, the call/message taker can place thehighlighted portion into memory by way of a copy comment 912 which saves“someone is being robbed at gunpoint” 1422 into one or more buffermemories. Alternatively, the call/message taker can set the highlightedportion as a label 914 suitable for quickly identifying the incidentwhich can be saved in into a permanent memory, such as read only memory.The resulting designated label will appear at the top of the native SMSmessage pop-up window 1400 shown in FIG. 14 and in the fourth textmessage dialogue 740 in the related status text window 700 shown in FIG.7.

The call/message taker can next proceed to do one of three tasks: (1)start an open emergency incident report (934), (2) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #2 (22) toan open emergency incident report (932), or (3) associate additionalportions of the initial or subsequent responses from citizen #1(10) tospecific form-fillable fields in an emergency incident report 920.

For example, the call/message taker can highlight a portion of a secondtext message from citizen #4 (33), which is the location of the caraccident 1424. Referring to FIG. 10, by way of right clicking on amouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, anoption menu 1000 appear where incident location 1010 is selected. Thecall/message taker associates the highlighted address, “Lexington Aveand E 151^(st) street,” to a location field 924. Referring back to FIG.6, the associated highlighted address Lexington ave and E 151^(st)street is inserted in location field 622. Alternatively, thecall/message taker could highlight “Lexington Park” 1424 and selectlocation field 924. The call/message taker can optionally select thehide button 850 to perform this task, or alternatively, not hide thewindow by moving the emergency incident form onto an available portionof one of the plurality of monitor displays.

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of a third textresponse from citizen #4 (33), which is the name of the citizen which is“prefer not give my name” 1426. Referring to FIG. 11, by way of rightclicking on a mouse, or entering one or more keystroke combinations on akeyboard, an option menu 1100 appears where the initial caller 1110 isselected. Referring back to FIG. 6, the associated highlighted name isinserted into the name field 640. The emergency incident report canrespond to this typical message by indicating “caller refused toidentify themself,” or the like in the initial caller field. Thecall/message taker can, again, optionally select the hide button 850 toperform this task, or alternatively, not hide the window by moving theemergency incident form onto an available portion of one of theplurality of monitor displays.

The call/message taker can next highlight a portion of a fourth textresponse from citizen #4 (33), which is information pertaining to thedescription of the gunman, type of weapon and description of the victim1428. Referring to FIG. 9, by way of right clicking on a mouse, orentering one or more keystroke combinations on a keyboard, an optionmenu 900 appears where the comment field 924 is selected. Referring backto FIG. 6, the associated highlighted comments (i.e., “White, 5′10”,roughly 175 pds, light brown hair, I would say in his early 50's, nicelydressed, black shirt, tan pants and a white baseball cap“, “handgun,black with extended clip, not a revolver”, and “Middle aged women, 5′7″,roughly 120 pds, blue dress, blonde hair”) is inserted in comment field636. The call/message taker can optionally edit or add text to thiscomment, such as prepending appending the words “Description ofperpetrator/robber:” to “White, 5′10″, roughly 175 pds, light brownhair, I would say in his early 50's, nicely dressed, black shirt, tanpants and a white baseball cap,” and appending the words, description ofvictim:” to “Middle aged women, 5′7″, roughly 120 pds, blue dress,blonde hair,” as well as appending “weapon identification:” to handgun,black with extended clip, not a revolver.”

Referring now to FIG. 15 an example illustration of a method and/orcomputer program adapted to provide context-aware linkage between nativeshort message service messages and a public safety incident inaccordance with example embodiments. As shown in FIG. 15, a computeraided dispatch method is shown comprising, receiving, by a public safetyanswering point, a plurality of emergency short message service (SMS)messages from one or more citizens over a wireless communicationnetwork, each emergency SMS message including a mobile terminalidentifier (1510), displaying each emergency SMS message in one or moredisplay dialogue windows (1520) receiving a command to highlight aportion of at least one of the emergency SMS message (1530) storing thehighlighted portion into one or more buffers, said highlighted portionbeing all or less than all of the emergency SMS message (1540) andreceiving a command to associate the highlighted portion to one of aplurality of context fields in an emergency incident information report,the associated highlighted portion, selected context field and mobileterminal identifier stored in memory (1550).

In one example embodiment, the highlighted portion of at least one ofthe emergency short service message is selected from the groupconsisting of a message body, a message phone number of a messageoriginator or a message timestamp.

In another example embodiment, the method further comprises the step ofopening the emergency incident information form in an active work area.

In yet another example embodiment, associating the highlighted portionto one of a plurality of context fields in an emergency incidentinformation report is selected from the group consisting of selectingassociate to an incident in an open dialogue window or selecting startincident in a new dialogue window.

In one example embodiment, an error message appears in response toselecting start incident if an incident information form is not openedin an active work area.

In one example embodiment, the context field is selected from a groupconsisting of incident location information, comments, informationpertaining to a citizen originating the emergency SMS message,information pertaining to third party or initial caller.

In another example embodiment, the context field is a set as label fieldadapted to provide a title or other short identifier of the call nature.

In yet another example embodiment, the incident location is selectedfrom a group consisting of a location city associated with the citizenor an apartment number or unit associated with the citizen.

In one example embodiment, the initial caller is selected from a groupconsisting of a first and last name of the citizen, a first name of thecitizen, a last name of the citizen, a phone number of the citizen, astreet address of the citizen, a city associated with of the citizen oran apartment number or unit associated with the of the citizen.

In another example embodiment if the emergency incident information formis not opened in an active work area further comprising the step ofswitching among one or more work areas so that a next work areacontaining an associated incident information form is active adapted tobecome populated by the caller taker.

In another example embodiment of public safety answering point is alegacy or transitional public safety answering point.

A further embodiment includes a computer aided dispatch method,comprising: receiving, by a public safety answering point, a pluralityof emergency short message service (SMS) messages from one or morecitizens over a wireless communication network, each emergency SMSmessage including a mobile terminal identifier; displaying eachemergency SMS message in one or more display dialogue windows; receivinga command to associate the emergency SMS message to an incidentinformation report; receiving a command to highlight a portion of atleast one of the emergency SMS message; storing the highlighted portioninto one or more buffers, said highlighted portion being all or lessthan all of the emergency SMS message; and receiving a command to sendthe highlighted portion to one of a plurality of context fields in theassociated incident information report, the associated highlightedportion, selected context field and mobile terminal identifier stored inmemory.

The method of some embodiments may include associating the emergency SMSmessage to an incident information report, and in further embodimentssending the highlighted portion to one of a plurality of context fieldsin the incident information report. Associating the SMS message may beperformed by associating the message to the incident in the active workarea; or by selecting a “start new incident” menu option.

The method may include sending the highlighted portion to one of aplurality of context fields in the associated incident informationreport. A specific incident information report need not be referencedfor future transmissions of emergency SMS message content. Theassociation has already been established and it's persistent.

In further embodiments, the ‘start incident’ action will open a newincident information report and establish the association. Inalternative embodiments, if the emergency incident information form isnot opened in an active work area, then the system may switch among oneor more work areas so that a next work area containing an associatedincident information form is active is adapted to become populated bythe caller taker; or present an error message in response to theassociated incident information report not being opened in one of thework areas.

In further embodiments, the program storage device, wherein if theemergency incident information form is not opened in an active work areafurther comprising the step of: switching among one or more work areasso that a next work area containing an associated incident informationform is active adapted to become populated by the caller taker. Theprogram storage device may include instructions such that the emergencyincident information report is routed through a text control center toone or more legacy public safety answering points or one or moretransitional public safety answering points.

A further embodiment may include a computer aided dispatch method,comprising: receiving from a text control center a plurality ofemergency short message service (SMS) messages from one or more citizensover a wireless communication network, each emergency SMS messageincluding a mobile terminal identifier; displaying each emergency SMSmessage in one or more display dialogue windows, in response todetermining that at least of the emergency short message service (SMS)messages does not include location or identifying information pertainingto the originator of the message, receiving a command to highlight aportion of at least one of the emergency SMS message; storing thehighlighted portion into one or more buffers, said highlighted portionbeing all or less than all of the emergency SMS message; and receiving acommand to associate the highlighted portion to one of a plurality ofcontext fields in an emergency incident information report, theassociated highlighted portion, selected context field and mobileterminal identifier stored in memory. The method may be used where thepublic safety answering points is a legacy or transitional public safetyanswering point.

In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have beendescribed. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates thatvarious modifications and changes can be made without departing from thescope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly,the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrativerather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intendedto be included within the scope of present teachings.

The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) thatmay cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is definedsolely by the appended claims including any amendments made during thependency of this application and all equivalents of those claims asissued.

Moreover in this document, relational terms such as first and second,top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish oneentity or action from another entity or action without necessarilyrequiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between suchentities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has”,“having,” “includes”, “including,” “contains”, “containing” or any othervariation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, suchthat a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has,includes, contains a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by“comprises . . . a”, “has . . . a”, “includes . . . a”, “contains . . .a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence ofadditional identical elements in the process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains the element. The terms“a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless explicitly statedotherwise herein. The terms “substantially”, “essentially”,“approximately”, “about” or any other version thereof, are defined asbeing close to as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and inone non-limiting embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, inanother embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and inanother embodiment within 0.5%. The term “coupled” as used herein isdefined as connected, although not necessarily directly and notnecessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is “configured” ina certain way is configured in at least that way, but may also beconfigured in ways that are not listed.

It will be appreciated that some embodiments may be comprised of one ormore generic or specialized processors (or “processing devices”) such asmicroprocessors, digital signal processors, customized processors andfield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and unique stored programinstructions (including both software and firmware) that control the oneor more processors to implement, in conjunction with certainnon-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functions of themethod and/or apparatus described herein. Alternatively, some or allfunctions could be implemented by a state machine that has no storedprogram instructions, or in one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certainof the functions are implemented as custom logic. Of course, acombination of the two approaches could be used.

Moreover, an embodiment can be implemented as a computer-readablestorage medium having computer readable code stored thereon forprogramming a computer (e.g., comprising a processor) to perform amethod as described and claimed herein. Examples of suchcomputer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to, ahard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storagedevice, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read OnlyMemory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) and a Flashmemory. Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill,notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choicesmotivated by, for example, available time, current technology, andeconomic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principlesdisclosed herein will be readily capable of generating such softwareinstructions and programs and ICs with minimal experimentation.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features aregrouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer aided dispatch method, comprising:receiving, by a public safety answering point, a plurality of emergencyshort message service (SMS) messages from one or more citizens over awireless communication network, each emergency SMS message including amobile terminal identifier; displaying each emergency SMS message in oneor more display dialogue windows; receiving a command to highlight aportion of at least one of the emergency SMS message; storing thehighlighted portion into one or more buffers, said highlighted portionbeing all or less than all of the emergency SMS message; and receiving acommand to associate the highlighted portion to one of a plurality ofcontext fields in an emergency incident information report, theassociated highlighted portion, selected context field and mobileterminal identifier stored in memory.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe highlighted portion of at least one of the emergency short servicemessage is selected from the group consisting of: a message body; amessage phone number of a message originator; or a message timestamp. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: opening theemergency incident information form in an active work area.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein associating the highlighted portion to one ofa plurality of context fields in an emergency incident informationreport is selected from the group consisting of: selecting associate toan incident in an open dialogue window; or selecting start incident in anew dialogue window.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein an error messageappears in response to selecting start incident if an incidentinformation form is not opened in an active work area.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the context field is selected from a group consistingof: incident location information; comments; information pertaining to acitizen originating the emergency SMS message; information pertaining tothird party or initial caller.
 7. The method of claim 1, where thecontext field is a set as label field adapted to provide a title orother short identifier of the call nature.
 8. The method of claim 6,wherein the incident location is selected from a group consisting of: alocation city associated with the citizen; or an apartment number orunit associated with the citizen.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein theinitial caller is selected from a group consisting of: a first and lastname of the citizen; a first name of the citizen; a last name of thecitizen; a phone number of the citizen; a street address of the citizen;a city associated with of the citizen; or an apartment number or unitassociated with the of the citizen.
 10. The method of claim 6, whereinif the emergency incident information form is not opened in an activework area further comprising the step of: switching among one or morework areas so that a next work area containing an associated incidentinformation form is active adapted to become populated by the callertaker.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the public safety answeringpoints is a legacy or transitional public safety answering point.
 12. Aprogram storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying aprogram of instructions executable by the machine for causingperformance of operations, said operations comprising: receiving, by apublic safety answering point, a plurality of emergency short messageservice (SMS) messages from one or more citizens over a wirelesscommunication network, each emergency SMS message including a mobileterminal identifier; displaying each emergency SMS message in one ormore display dialogue windows; receiving a command to highlight aportion of at least one of the emergency SMS message; storing thehighlighted portion into one or more buffers, said highlighted portionbeing all or less than all of the emergency SMS message; and receiving acommand to associate the highlighted portion to one of a plurality ofcontext fields in an emergency incident information report, theassociated highlighted portion, selected context field and mobileterminal identifier stored in memory.
 13. The program storage device ofclaim 12, wherein the highlighted portion of at least one of theemergency short service message is selected from the group consistingof: a message body; a message phone number of a message originator; or amessage timestamp.
 14. The program storage device of claim 12, furthercomprising the step of: opening the emergency incident information formin an active work area.
 15. The program storage device of claim 12,wherein associating the highlighted portion to one of a plurality ofcontext fields in an emergency incident information report is selectedfrom the group consisting of: selecting associate to an incident in anopen dialogue window; or selecting start incident in a new dialoguewindow.
 16. The program storage device of claim 15, wherein an errormessage appears in response to selecting start incident if an incidentinformation form is not opened in an active work area.
 17. The programstorage device of claim 12, wherein the context field is selected from agroup consisting of: incident location information; comments;information pertaining to a citizen originating the emergency SMSmessage; information pertaining to third party or initial caller. 18.The program storage device of claim 17, wherein the incident location isselected from a group consisting of: a location city associated with thecitizen; or an apartment number or unit associated with the citizen. 19.The program storage device of claim 12, where the context field is setas label field adapted to provide a title or other short identifier ofthe call nature.
 20. The program storage device of claim 17, wherein theinitial caller is selected from a group consisting of: a first and lastname of the citizen; a first name of the citizen; a last name of thecitizen; a phone number of the citizen; a street address of the citizen;a city associated with of the citizen; or an apartment number or unitassociated with the of the citizen.